Midlands Club Cricket Round-Up - April/May 2012

After five rounds of matches in the Birmingham & District Premier League, Walsall lead the way with four wins and an abandonment, with Brockhampton and West Bromwich Dartmouth the other unbeaten teams. Wolverhampton are Walsall’s nearest rivals, but are some 13 points adrift, while Knowle & Dorridge are a further four points behind. Defending champions Barnt Green have won just one of their five games and lie seventh in the table. At this early stage, the winless pair of Wellington and Leamington occupy the relegation places.

Player of the month: Slow-left armer Steve Bevan is the top-ranked player from the league according to the Cricket World Club MVPs. He has hauls of five for 31 and four for 26 against Brockhampton and Wolverhampton respectively to his name over the past month, and lies joint 110th in the overall rankings with 50.4 points.

Defending champions Ockbrook & Borrowash can only manage sixth after six rounds of the Derbyshire Premier League. They are 26 points behind undefeated leaders Swarkestone, who have 93 points and are joined on three wins by second-placed Lullington Park. The other undefeated team are Quarndon, who lie ninth having drawn all of their matches. Rolls Royce Leisure and Spondon are the bottom two teams with two wins and four losses between them from 12 games.

Player of the month: Derbyshire all-rounder Alex Hughes may have only played three matches for leaders Swarkestone, but he had a stellar match against Sandiacre Town, hitting 114 from 98 balls and taking three wickets, to put him joint 79th in the rankings on 55.9 points.

Leicester Ivanhoe are comfortably top of the Leicestershire Premier League. They have 90 points from five games and are 15 ahead of second-placed Market Harborough, and 23 ahead of defending champions Loughborough Town. Thorpe Arnold are the league’s whipping boys and sit last, alongside Sileby Town in the relegation zone.

Player of the month: Former Northamptonshire and Sussex all-rounder Kevin Innes is 17th in the overall rankings on 78.1 points. Besides his nine wickets, he has scored 133 runs from his three matches, including an innings of 80 against Sileby Town.